With age a large portion of the population develops arterial obstructions formed by fats, fibrous material and calcified deposits, resulting in a diminished blood circulation. Presently such obstructions are circumvented surgically by providing a bypass or they are treated with a catheter equipped with a balloon which is inserted into the obstruction through the arterial system and then inflated to expand the obstruction's lumen. A problem with this treatment is that it may burst the artery and in certain cases it is ineffective. Further, it does not remove the obstruction material out of the arterial system.
The objective of the present invention is to provide a catheter rotatable over a guide-wire, equipped with a tubular-blade attached to its front end, that would cut and extract the obstruction material. The rotary catheter system should be producable in diameters down to 1-2 millimeters (mm) and a length of up to a meter to be able to reach and enter small and remote arteries. Preferably, the operation of the rotary catheter system would resemble the operation of present catheters as much as possible so present skills of medical personnel can be utilized. This and other objectives of the invention will become apparent from the following discussion and the accompanying drawings.